?
Loki was thrown from one universe to another. Making jump after jump, he did not think at all about the possible consequences of the rupture of space.
This time, the wormhole threw him out in the garden. He had already been to a similar reality. This is his home in New Asgard. Everything is the same as the previous times, except for one thing. In addi-tion to the steps, a ramp led to the veranda. There was no one around, children's voices could be heard in the distance. A couple of moments later, from somewhere from the depths of an overgrown garden, three boys, about five years old, ran out. One, fair-haired, bellowing, with a bruised forehead. The other two, apparently twins, the noisier one, ran into the house, leaving the others behind. Inter-estingly, all three children of his here? He had not yet met the version with children, he had seen a married man, he saw himself, almost an outcast of society, he ended up where he was completely dead, but he never had children.
His own harsh voice came from the house. Loki, watching everything from the dense foliage of the hedge, was shocked . A man in a wheelchair appeared on the veranda. Somewhere inside, everything contracted, and he have lump his throat. Now it's clear who needs a ramp here. He expected to see anything but this. There are countless universes, but what if he himself, one of those versions of him-self, who is destined for a similar fate? Better to die than to live forever chained to a wheelchair. Usu-ally, such things are seen in dreams and called nightmares, and here he is, quite tangible.
By the way, the local Loki quite coped with his position, considering that he instantly found himself on the veranda with a bottle of "Hydrogen Peroxide." Pouring antiseptic on the boy's wound, he scolded the children for running to the cliff again.
«Narvi, get the needle and thread!»
He commanded, deliberately sternly. One of the twins looked at his father perplexedly.
«Come on, I need to sew it up, »- he continued in the same pretense.
«Uncle, don’t! »
The blond boy staggered back from the man in the chair.
«No, well, this is a serious matter. Come quickly, » - Odinson dispersed.
But seeing the frightened nephew, now ready to burst into tears, he laughed and ruffled the child's wheat hair.
«Come on, I'm just kidding. It'only a scratch.»
The observer's lips were twisted in a crooked grin. He still remained a lover of cruel jokes. Even with his children. Although, what did the boy call him "uncle"? So this one is not his, is it Thor's kid?
The children began to beg the man to go somewhere with them, but he did not agree.
- Dad, we can't do it alone, so take usf!
The boy hungs on the armrest of his father's wheelchair. Loki just shook his head and glanced towards the hedge.
- Well dad!
- I said "No". I have a lot of work to do. Magni, mother at home?
The blond boy nodded.
- That's nice, go get Aunt Sif.
With some irritation, he waved in the direction of the gate. It was evident that he really wanted to quickly get rid of the children from the yard.
One of the twins frowned:
"You are always like this."
Loki raised his eyebrows theatrically in anticipation of the continuation. The boy frowned. Loki touched son's chin, forcing him to look at himself.
“I really have important things to do today. Maybe tomorrow?"
Narvi said nothing, going down the porch, followed by the others. Vali looked back at his seated fa-ther.
“You won't go tomorrow, you deceiver,” he whispered softly.
The man pretended not to hear, nervously adjusting the collar of his unbuttoned shirt. After all, the child is right, he will refuse the boys again tomorrow, as well as after tomorrow. He cannot purely physically. Yes, crutches are always at his disposal, but this was on the exceptional occasion. The magi-cian preferred hands free then instead ridiculous parody of walking. On crutches, he felt completely helpless, so he rarely used them now. He long ago realized that it was useless,иге a few years agohe laughed and said, Sigyn, that he would marry as soon as he got used to the cane. It didn't work out, it never came to her. He did not feel his legs below the knees, it is impossible to get used to this, only to accept. Accept that he has to spend millennia in that damn chair. Stark suggested Leg Braces like Rhodey. He could not. For some reason, the forced flexion of the paralyzed limbs began to cause hell-ish convulsions.
When the children disappeared from the yard, the magician himself came down from the veranda.
- Hey, in the bushes!
Loki, hiding in the foliage, froze. This development of events never entered his plans. To show himself here, like all the previous times, he was not going to.
«I can feel you, don’t pretend you don’t hear»
Нe chuckled as he drove closer to the fence.
There was nothing to do. No, one could have disappeared at that very second, but curiosity about this universe took over. The local Loki, impatiently drummed on the armrest, waiting for the intruder to show himself. Foliage rustled and one of the twins appeared.
«You are not Narvi,»
He shook his head. Green sparks flashed and Loki was presented with his own copy, only from 2012.
« Wow. Life battered you, »
He whistled. Grief-usurper awkwardly touched the abrasion on his forehead - he himself knew that his vidocq was pretty shabby. Odinson rolled back a little, wondering where this miracle came from. The answer was rather scanty for details.
« Other universes, you say," he chuckled. "And how is it?»
The traveler was taken aback. It turns out that this one was not interested in the stone, but only in what he saw? This Loki is weird. Sits and looks at him with a certain mockery.
« How dare he is in this position ?!»
The black color of the shirt, along with the resinous curls, emphasized the seemingly long-standing bruises under the eyes, making a very self-confident look somewhat painful. I wonder if he sleeps at all? The trickster leaned forward slightly, propping your cheek on the palm of your hand. The man did not leave the desire to fetch the phone out of his jeans pocket and capture the guest in the photo, because if you tell someone this, inadvertently they will think that they have completely said goodbye to reason. Previously, he assumed that such things could be done with a stone of space, but he did not think that this would be really possible. Or maybe it is not available to everyone. Still, there are many moves between worlds, what is the probability that the same is possible with universes?
- If I were you, I would not play with this thing, the wheelchair user grinned.
- And you are not in my place! - he snapped.
Another Loki laughed and said he knew his place. But he can change with pleasure. The magician did not appreciate the joke. And what if this is the future in his universe and is now literally talking to itself.
The man in the wheelchair saw through the interlocutor. The whole spectrum of Another Loki's emo-tions was read to him like an open book. Stakh and misunderstanding and a note of contempt. Won-derful.
"You can gaze at me as much as you like," he said sweetly, -Are you afraid this is your future?"
Loki hit the mark and knew it. The disgraced-prince was embarrassed. How self-confident he is, too annoying, he thought. Gaze caught on his polished shoes. Most likely they have never been particular-ly dirty.
- It won't make you happy. - the local shook his head - I know.
He grinned bitterly and noticing where the interlocutor's gaze was directed, not deftly, helping yourself with his hand, crossed his legs.
If only Loki had been operated on a little earlier, he could walk and even run. The titan simply crum-bled the vertebrae, so it is not known what would have happened if he were an ordinary person. Shuri did everything she could, but time was lost. The girl was afraid that the Asgardian would be completely paralyzed. At first there was despair. Sincere misunderstanding why he did not die. What's the use of it? It turned out to be unbearable to sit at the window in the van, chained in a metal corset from neck to sacrum and watch New Asgard being built without being able to help. Of course, he did not suffer at all for a long time with a metal structure, but he was left with meaningless time. Depressed, he want-ed to commit suicide. He couldn't do that to Thor. After all, Loki is all that has become of his family.
***
- Thor was ready to carry me in his arms and I ...
- I decided to take this opportunity?
Another interrupted him sarcastically. The wheelchair user smiled sadly. No, he just decided that he would live, if not for himself, then for the sake of Thor. Often thinking about the past, the magician has become a kind of lover of self-flagellation. You cannot change the past, but somehow you have to live on. He loved to harass himself, sometimes he annoyed his brother. They lived in the same house for a while and it turned out to be terrible. Loki became like a crystal vase for him, and Odinson did not at all understand why his brother was so furious when he tried to help him off the ramp or undertook to lead him down the street. Why, he was so annoyed when Thor began to support him, when he tried to move out of bed into the his unfortunate chair. And once he brought breakfast to bed. This turned out to be the last straw. The whole neighborhood heard the screams of the crippled magician. The Thunderer could not even imagine that he would ever hear such speech turns from his brother. The attention Thor so craved for the trickster was slowly deprived all personal boundaries, as if Thor had a concept of personal space at all. Still, I wanted to preserve my dignity and independence.
***
- And I still would like Thor to be a personal servant, he grinned. Loki only sighed.
Well, what will he do with him? And reading morality to yourself is somehow stupid. He will figure it out himself later.
- Are you saying that you are happy to live like this? - He said haughtily,
- I will never believe.
- There is no eternal happiness. But there are moments for the sake of which I am ready to come to terms with my position.
Each action carries with it a number of consequences, good or bad, so how lucky. Loki did not want to lose something. So, even if he was offered to change the past, he would leave it as it is. After all, there will not be a completely ideal outcome, whatever one may say. The world is beautiful in its imperfec-tion.
For a failed conqueror, this sounded crazy. Live a cripple somewhere in Midgard? Some kind of absurd-ity. What such an existence can bring.
“And what do you want? - I heard my own voice - Great conquests or ...? " The fugitive from 2012 wanted to sneer, but something stopped him.
“Acceptance? Find your place? This one has found, - his, he thought mockingly, - Maybe, people who will need him, no matter what? "
- Ironically, but I have not stopped envying Torah, - a sad smile played on the face of the local, - Only the reasons have changed.
- What? - distracted from his own thoughts, he asked.
- Well, he, for example, can walk, - Loki threw up his hands, -I'd love to play ball with the children. And also, I never gave Sigyn a wedding dance, although I promised ...
- God of deception! .. - he spattered.
The wheelchair user didn’t reply to the mockery.
Loki materialized a cube in his hand. Not to say that this one was some kind of special version of him-self, but nevertheless, a very tempting offer came from the magician: to return to his past and change something. But “Another He” didn’t agree.
- Come back to home, you fool. Such actions will not do without consequences, I do not want to lose what I have.
The refusal, of course, was unexpected, but he was not going to insist. Glancing at the Tesseract, the magician turned his gaze to the seated one.
Glancing at the Tesseract, the magician turned his gaze to the seated one. The man waved his hand, give realized that it was time for the "guest".
The trickster closed his eyes, preparing for another ride.
- What do you have?
Disappearing in the portal, the last one heard was a quiet "А family"
«Is it really that simple?...»